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Making a balance between social life and finances in your 20s can be a daunting task. Add student loan payments, insurance, and rent and you’ll find yourself lost with personal financial planning.

However, balancing your finances shouldn’t be a tough task and shouldn’t take so much of your time. All you have to do is find the right strategy to manage it and be financially secure while staying ready for any unexpected expenses that may arise.
The first step many experts recommend is: Take inventory.

“Even before you decide what you want to do, or where you want to be in the future, get a really good sense of what your finances look like today,” said Shweta Lawande, a certified financial planner at Francis Financial.

One simple way to look at it is the 50-30-20 rule: Spend 50% of your income on needs, 30% on wants (fun), and save 20%. Consider how your math stacks up against that rule and see if you need to make some adjustments.
Lawande recommends organizing what you have in your checking and savings accounts (or any investment accounts) first.

If you’re not saving anything right now – you need to start immediately. Unexpected expenses are – well – unexpected, and they can come at any time so you need to stay ready for them.
“The number one thing I tell everyone to do is automate, automate, automate,” Lawande said.

In fact, it’s not only about savings. Lawande suggests automating as many things as you can, including minimum credit card payments and money in a retirement savings account. That will help you really see how much you have leftover at the end of every month for fun – and it will help keep you from spending too much on fun and then winding up in a bind later on.